Cal-Waste directors discuss the company's in-house commercial container repair program and how it has helped lower maintenance costs and increase efficiency.

For as long as Casey Vaccarezza, director of operations at Cal-Waste Recovery Systems, and Ken Kimmel, the company’s maintenance shop director, can remember, the California-based waste and recycling provider has repaired its collection containers in-house.

For Cal-Waste, the effort is part of its mission to be a pure customer service company, fulfilling its customers’ needs whether they ask directly or not.

“From a marketing standpoint for us, every container, every box, every cart is a billboard out on the street,” Vaccarezza says. “Do you want a rusted box in front of your business or a freshly painted one? Clean equipment is more appealing to a new customer.”

The company manages about 4,000 front-load containers and 1,200 roll-off boxes. Jack Meotti, marketing communications director for Cal-Waste, says the company refurbishes 10 roll-off dumpsters and up to 30 other commercial containers at any given time. The typical cost of repairing and maintaining a container or box depends on the amount of work that needs to be done but typically is between $1,000 to $2,000 apiece.

The containers are repaired as needed, and repairs can take up to three days, depending on the scope of the repair. Some of the most common repairs that need to be done include replacing the bottom of the container, replacing the lids, repairing holes, applying decals and repairing the pockets. 

The repair process at Cal-Waste begins in the field, with customers or drivers examining the container to determine if it needs to be taken in for maintenance. The primary sign a container needs to be repaired is liquid leaking from the bottom of the container, which sees the most wear because of the acidity of the material and from being picked up and put down regularly. 

Other signs that customers and drivers look for include damaged wheels and lock bars or sharp edges. They also look for cosmetic damage, such as chipped or faded paint and damaged decals.

When the company gets the container into the shop, it gets steam washed and examined before any repairs are made. Metal repairs are made before the container is sandblasted to remove the paint completely. Workers then apply a fresh coat of paint to the container and reapply decals. 

For Cal-Waste, the primary benefits of repairing the container in-house include quality control and lower costs. Vaccarezza says if Cal-Waste sent in the containers for repair at a fabrication company, there would be a 15 percent to 20 percent mark up in price because of parts, material and labor.

By handling the container repairs in-house, Cal-Waste also can manage the quality of the labor and materials, including higher quality paint and better welding. The company also finds benefits in customizing the containers for the businesses that use them. This includes installing specialty lids, splitting containers and bear-proofing boxes and containers for the company's foothill region customers.

Kimmel says another benefit of repairing the containers in-house is that Cal-Waste can prioritize what needs to be done.

“If we've got 30 containers of different types and sizes sitting at somebody else's shop, unless we're calling them telling them which one to do next, it will take a while to get what we need,” Kimmel says. “Because we're doing it ourselves, we're right there and we can prioritize what we need and when.”

The biggest benefit, however, is that the repair program allows the company to work on its own time and not the time of another company, which optimizes its speed and efficiency.

The company has acquired Gainesville Waste & Recycling and Dawsonville Waste & Recycling.

Waste Eliminator, a Gainesville, Georgia-based regional provider of solid waste hauling, disposal and recycling services, has acquired Gainesville Waste & Recycling (GWAR) and Dawsonville Waste & Recycling (DWAR), both based in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Founded in 2007 by Kacy Cronan, GWAR is a recycling and composting operation that partners with large corporate and industrial customers to assist in achieving their sustainability goals.

As one of only five permitted biosolids composting companies in the state of Georgia, GWAR has been chosen to handle waste by several nationally recognized corporate companies because of its resourcefulness in diverting waste from landfills to other beneficial uses, Waste Eliminator says.

Following the acquisition, Cronan will remain with Waste Eliminator as a partner. He also will serve on the board of directors and the executive leadership team, where he will be responsible for leading business development efforts.

“The acquisition of GWAR is a game-changer for Waste Eliminator, bringing important disposal and recycling infrastructure to the platform and offering additional recycling capabilities to better serve our customers,” says Wes Turner, CEO of Waste Eliminator. “The combined platform is now the largest independent waste management and environmental services business in metro Atlanta. With the support from Allied Industrial Partners (a private equity firm providing financial backing to Waste Eliminator), we are well-positioned to integrate these companies and grow further.”

“Waste Eliminator shares our commitment to corporate sustainability initiatives and beneficial re-use, which makes them an ideal partner,” Cronan says. “The demand for recycling and sustainability services among our client base is strong and joining Waste Eliminator will provide us with the additional tools to address the market need.”

Waste Eliminator also acquired DWAR, formerly known as 400 North Landfill, an inert landfill outside of Atlanta that handles, processes and recycles organic waste and inert materials that otherwise would be destined for a landfill. DWAR’s facilities also include transfer capacity for construction and demolition and municipal waste.   

“When we invested in Waste Eliminator, we saw an attractive opportunity to grow the platform and gain economies of scale in a fragmented market, and we’re pleased to be delivering on that vision,” says Bradford Rossi and Philip Wright, co-founders and managing partners of Allied Industrial Partners (AIP). “Our continued investment in Waste Eliminator will further enhance the company’s recycling capabilities, which also aligns with AIP’s own sustainability goals.”

California’s SB 54 means plastic recycling facilities being built by Republic were an appropriate investment, according to analysts from Stifel.

Securities analysts with Baltimore-based Stifel Financial say a strategy by Phoenix-based Republic Services to build and operate plastic recycling facilities in the western United States looks prescient with the signing of SB 54 in California.

In a July 5 report prepared by Michael E. Hoffman and colleagues who analyze waste and recycling firms, the Stifel team writes, “We reiterate our ‘buy’ rating and $156 target price on Republic Services.”

The Stifel team describes SB 54 as mandating that “all plastic packaging be recyclable/compostable by 2032” and as requiring “65 percent of all single-use packaging be recovered/recycled by 2032,” leading to “an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for single-use plastics.”

Stifel continues, “This legislation, in our view, further validates the basis for Republic’s investment in the Polymer Center in Las Vegas.” The analysts note Republic has stated it intends to open four or five more such plants. 

The analysis cites Republic’s collection and material recovery facility (MRF) infrastructure as an advantage, saying the firm “has 100 percent of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) scrap volume to support Las Vegas, and the future growth [is] on its trucks today.”

Additional feedstock, Stifel writes, will result as SB 54 helps to “drive more third-party volume to Republic’s Polymer Centers to support upselling recycling/circular economy goals of consumer products group companies.”

Stifel and Republic describe the latter’s Polymer Center as being a $50 million capital investment that can process 50,000 pounds of PET scrap annually. The first facility, to start running next year, may yield $50 million per year in saleable products and offers a margin in the “low to mid 30s” percent range, Stifel says.

Multinational firm, which owns plastic recycling equipment makers, also sought to recycle in-house more in 2021.

Indiana-based Hillenbrand Inc. has provided details on some of its own recycling efforts in a newly issued sustainability report covering activity in 2021.

The industrial conglomerate includes portfolio companies that manufacture plastic recycling and reprocessing equipment. At the end of last month, it announced its acquisition of Germany-based Herbold Meckesheim, further increasing its presence in that sector.

Hillenbrand’s other operating companies include plastic sector equipment makers Coperion, DME, Mold Masters, Milacron and Rotex, plus casket maker Batesville.

In its sustainability report, Hillenbrand says both Coperion and DME recycle metal chips at their production facilities in Europe and North America, respectively. Batesville, meanwhile, uses scrap wood as a feedstock for a boiler it operates.

Batesville also has enacted changes in its casket packaging methods that, according to Hillenbrand, have resulted in “eliminating the 200,000 pounds of plastic wrap and about 60,000 pounds of blankets previously used annually for packaging.”

Several of the operating companies also refer to programs at Hillenbrand facilities designed to collect and recycle paper, plastic, glass and other materials generated via the manufacturing process and office activities.

In an opening message to the report, Hillenbrand President and CEO Kim Ryan refers to the use of equipment made by its portfolio companies in the recycling sector by writing, “Collectively, we play a unique part in the development of a sustainable future, providing solutions to a wide variety of customers, who manufacture what the world needs to thrive today.”

Adds Ryan, “We are also living our purpose by helping meet increasing consumer demands for sustainable solutions by investing in innovation centers and introducing new products and systems designed to meet the rising need for advances in plant-based proteins, recycling, biopolymers and batteries.”

Global turf company TenCate Grass joins plastics recycling consortium.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Cyclyx International has announced that Netherlands-based TenCate Grass has joined the Cyclyx consortium, which describes itself as a “postuse plastic innovation company with a mission to increase the recyclability of plastic from 10 percent to 90 percent.”

TenCate Grass, a global provider of synthetic turf surfaces, says it strives to make its turf systems fully circular. The company says that for several years it has recycled its end-of-life turf into products such as Ecocept, used as an elastic layer in sports fields design.

“This focus on end-of-life recycling for its products led TenCate Grass to anticipate the recyclability of its turf systems during the design phase,” states the company. In 2019, TenCate Grass co-founded GBN Artificial Grass Recycling to recycle end-of-life turf in the Netherlands in a circular manner, a concept it says it now aims to replicate worldwide.

“Joining Cyclyx is just another step in our commitment to continuously improve upon our sustainability practices,” says Joe Fields, co-CEO of TenCate Grass Americas. “Circular solutions are vital to the turf industry, and advancements in feedstock management through organizations like Cyclyx are rapidly becoming more important as we continue to find ways to replicate our end-of-life turf recycling success globally.”

Joe Vaillancourt, CEO of Cyclyx, says, “We’re excited to welcome TenCate Grass to Cyclyx. Their focus on designing for recyclability and ultimately achieving circular pathways for their end-of-life products shows a deep commitment to sustainability.”

Existing Cyclyx International participants include founding companies Agilyx Corp. and ExxonMobil Chemical Co., plus 11 other corporations and six trade associations.

TenCate Grass has production facilities in the Netherlands, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, with its turf products sold in more than 40 countries globally.